Complementary Oncology: Adjunctive Methods in the Treatment of Cancer » (New Edition)

The word is out about the beneficial qualities of complementary therapies in the treatment of cancer. More physicians are offering these therapies to their patients, and more and more patients are demanding it. You - and your patients - cannot afford to be without this valuable resource.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Martha J. Greenberg, PhD, RN(Pace University)
Description:This book presents evidence, analysis, and evaluation of CAM methods that have proven in clinical trials to impact the quality of life in patients with cancer. It raises questions about the usefulness of standards used in clinical trials for cancer treatment, e.g., survival or disease, relative to the patient's quality of life and the use of adjuvant CAM methods.
Purpose:The purpose is to integrate efficacy-tested measures of CAM into oncology treatment, especially since the use of tumor-destructive standard therapies have not lowered cancer mortality over the last 30 years. Patients with cancer now use CAM measures for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that they can activate and enhance the PNI system.
Audience:Physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and researchers in oncology are the intended audience. The authors include physicians and researchers from the U.S. and Germany.
Features:The book provides an overview of tumor immunology and offers criticism and analysis of methodology issues in oncology research. Half of the book is devoted to CAM therapies that have available scientific data, e.g., nutrition, exercise, selenium, high dose antioxidants. Later chapters integrate CAM into solid tumor therapies and introduce some newer approaches that might be efficacious in cancer treatment, such as green tea and soybean.
Assessment:I have reservations about the book's specific usefulness, particularly because the references are, for the most part, quite dated. Since patients with cancer are using many of these approaches, evidence-based or not, the book does fulfill a void in supplying ready information for oncology practitioners that could be useful in serving patients.